C. Grimaldis Gallery is pleased to present In the Open Air, a survey of contemporary landscapes. This exhibition highlights painters whose decisive actions and explorations of American and European landscapes transport the viewer into spaces observed and remembered.

Greek Outsider artist Giorgos Rigas, having built a career primarily as a laborer, painted from emory the life and activites in the mountain village and seascapes of his childhood — effectively commemorating a life that no longer exists. A self-taught painter, Giorgos Rigas may be considered from multiple perspectives: as regional artist, folk artist, contemporary artist, history painter, and memory painter. Free from the constraints of realistic portrayal, Rigas often highlighted details otherwise unseen, resulting in emotionally resonant elegies on community, culture and remembered space. In the Open Air also includesJames Hennessey’s soft, yet decisive vistas of Italy, France, and the American Midwest. After receiving a Prix de Rome in 1962 and 1963, Hennessey spent extended time painting in Italy and France, including the MICA Italian Program in Sorrento, Italy, and the Alfred and Trafford Klots Residency program in Rochefort-en-Terre, France. His paintings were continuously informed by his extensive European experiences. Hennessey’s thoughtful surfaces reflect the consideration and devotion given to each work. Paint is added, scraped, sanded, and added again, a process of calls and answers, to invite and enchant with their subtle palate and refined depth.

The work of Eugene Leake offers a look into rural Maryland from an inquisitive and admiring eye. His perception of our natural world focuses on atmosphere, expression, and movement, and of course an absolute mastery of painting. As a late pillar of the Maryland Arts Community, Leake’s work lives on to inspire the viewer to devour and enjoy painting. Henry Coe’s plein air oil paintings capture the mundane and the sublime of the Maryland landscape. His attention to realism and luminosity evokes feelings of nostalgia for a simpler time when nature provided sustenance and entertainment alike. Through Coe’s gaze, documenting the natural world engages the viewer with a sense of time and place. This exhibition also features works by Baltimore-renowned artist Raoul Middleman, combining natural elements with the artist’s unrestrained expression. Middleman’s marks spontaneously dance across the page to highlight the active gestures in the world around him.

In the Open Air will be on view from November 30, 2023 through February 18, 2024. An opening reception will take place on Thursday, November 30 from 5 to 7pm.